Seek to be Meek
“The meek will inherit the earth.” That is what Jesus said in His sermon on the mount. It was one of the Beatitudes. The full quote is, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
For many today, that is one of the things that is questioned about Jesus. In fact, I once heard a man say, “No, the strong will inherit the earth. The weak will get stomped along the way.” Did you notice the subtle difference in what he said? He used the word weak instead of meek. That is a mistake made by many.
When I think of meekness, I think of my dad. He was quiet. He rarely raised his voice. But he was strong. And I knew that it was in my best interest to obey him.
I’ll never forget the day. I was in third grade. Dad came home from work and walked to my room. Closing the door he said, “We need to talk, Sport.” And I immediately froze. I couldn’t remember what I had done wrong. Why would we need to talk?
He quickly told me that I was not in trouble, and then he informed me that he and mom wanted me to take piano lessons. He shared many reasons for that. Music was a great discipline, it would make me better educated and more rounded. And on he went. Three times I said to him, “But I don’t want to take piano lessons.” After the third time he stood up and responded, “Your objections have been heard. You start Tuesday.”
And with that it was done. I took piano lessons for 8 years. Sometimes I loved it, and at others I hated it. But make no mistake about it. I took piano lessons. That quiet, gentle man laid down the law, and I did what he said.
I hope you will see that meekness is far from weakness. Meekness, in the Bible, says that the person is not self-willed, not concerned with getting one’s own way, but willing to submit to achieve what is good for others. It is the opposite of self-will and self-interest. It is Christ-like behavior. I need to work at being meek. Perhaps you do as well. I pray that we will seek to be meek so that we might be more like our Savior.
